It is this island which first gives joy to the vessels which sail hence for the Filipinas; for it is the first land descried in our passage westward. A headland on its coast is the celebrated cape of Espiritu Santo, which we sight on arriving at the islands, and for which we sought. With this island on the left, and the great island of Manila on the right, we enter directly the Filipinas Islands, leaving the islands of the Ladrones three hundred leguas behind. It also forms with the island of Leite, which lies south of it, a very narrow strait, through which a few ships have penetrated—especially those which under stress of weather, and driven back by the force of the storms, have been compelled to take refuge in the port of Cebu. The island is large and populous, and all around it are many adjacent islands, also inhabited. All its people are generally regarded as very peaceable, and they have made an excellent beginning in receiving the gospel, the chiefs being most distinguished in this regard—which is a matter of considerable importance, as they open the way for the others by their example. The first one of the Society to enter that island for instruction was Father Francisco de Otaço, who went thither with two companions. Although in the beginning hardships did not fail them, through their lack of material resources, they were so well provided with those that were spiritual that one could well recompense the other. They arrived on the western side of the island, which is eastward of the archipelago, at a village called Tinagon, [90] without any fixed or chosen post, and arrived there very opportunely for their purpose since at that time a plague, communicated from other districts, prevailed in that part of the island, causing the death of many people. Accordingly, they at once set about their task, and labored diligently, going from house to house, and from one sick person to another, teaching and baptizing. But the unexpected results lightened their toil; for the number of those who were thoroughly prepared for and received baptism was very great, and the number of baptized persons who died from the disease reached a thousand souls. Besides the church of this central station which was recently built, six other churches were erected in that district, not far distant from it. In each one of them was a school with a goodly number of children, and a master to instruct them; and the pupils were so devoted to it that the threat that had most effect on them was to say their teacher would leave them. Our fathers went through those villages, visiting the sick and aiding them, as well as they could, with remedies for both body and soul. In the course of these visitations an incident occurred which well exhibits the forbearance with which God awaits our conversion, the ease with which we find Him when we seek Him, and the patience and perseverance which a minister of the gospel needs in teaching, convincing, entreating, urging, and waiting for the conversion of a soul. One of the fathers had been visiting the sick of a certain village, and was on his way homeward, some distance away, to partake of a little nourishment and obtain repose, as night was closing in. Turning his eyes to one side he descried a wretched house which he did not remember to have visited that day. To satisfy himself of this he mounted a few steps of the ladder, and looking from the door into the interior of the house beheld a man stretched upon the floor. Upon approaching he found him motionless and almost dead, but with enough consciousness to answer "No" to the father's query if he desired baptism. The father remained with him a long time, seeking to convince him. Finally, seeing how little this availed, and that the hour was late, he concluded to leave him. But grief at seeing that soul lost, and the secret strength which our Lord gave him, constrained him to wait, and to persist in urging the sick man—an action so opportune that the latter at last said "Yes," and listened to the short instruction which is wont to be given upon such occasions. Thus, in sorrow for his sins he expired immediately after baptism, with an "Oh, God!" on his lips, torn from his very heart.
One of the islands adjacent to Ibabao is Maripipi, whose inhabitants were all baptized in one day in the following fashion. This island is three leguas distant by sea from Ibabao, for which reason our fathers could not visit it as often as the people desired. Seeing this, its inhabitants all resolved to embark in their boats and come themselves to seek holy baptism. The chiefs disembarked at Tinagon, and, after them, all their followers with their wives and children, all of them eagerly seeking the sacrament; but the father told them, through a chief who acted as spokesman, that they must first learn the doctrine, and that when they understood it he would baptize them. The chief's only answer was to recite the doctrine, after which he said that he had learned it from the others. With the evidence of such faith and good disposition, the father baptized them all; and, satisfied and joyful, they embarked again for their island.
Some months later, Father Miguel Gomez was sent from the college of Sebu in order to ascertain the disposition of the inhabitants of the eastern part of the island for receiving our holy faith; he found them so well inclined that, erecting a church in a village called Catubig, not far from the cape of Espiritu Santo, he converted many of that district to Christianity; indeed, whole villages of that island came to him, and even many from islands lying adjacent to it in that broad sea. He was particularly astonished at one of the chiefs of Catubig, a man who lived, under the natural law, without blame and had good principles, one of which was to abominate polygamy. This chief was exceedingly pleased at hearing the catechism, and, requesting holy baptism, for this purpose cut off his own hair, which is esteemed as much among those people as among the Chinese. There was another, a sick old man, who, before he saw our fathers, learning that they were in that place, sent to request holy baptism, which he afterward most devoutly received. In this mission many special incidents occurred which gave evidence that this harvest was fully ripe to be gathered for Christ; but, as it was not quite ready for the reaping, [91] and the father was needed in his own college whence he had departed, he was obliged to return to it, with this good news of his journey. These villages, with their new Christians, were assigned to the fathers of Tinagon, who ministered to them so far as they could, until more suitable provision could be made for them by sending a father who could more readily assist them; this has not yet been done, through lack of workers.
Of the island of Bohol, and the entry of the Society therein. Chapter
XXXII.
Bohol is one of the smaller islands of the Filipinas, but is actually large and populous, inhabited by a people of lighter complexion, and generally more comely, than are the other Bissayans. They are a race of such spirit and valor that they have spread through many neighboring islands, where their descendants still preserve the name of Boholans of which they are very proud—just as we, when in foreign kingdoms, are proud of the name of Spaniards. The island is rich in mines and placers of gold, and abundantly provided with game, fish, rice, sugar-cane, palms, and other kinds of food. In the year one thousand five hundred and sixty-four, the adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived there with his fleet—entering through the channel which they call El Frayle ["The Friar">[—when, as we have stated, he set out from Nueva España in quest of those islands. A chief of that island, named Catunao—whom our fathers have now baptized, as we shall soon relate—gave information to Miguel Lopez of Sebu (which is six leguas distant from Bohol), and, accompanying him thither as a guide, was of great assistance to him in the reduction of the island. It was the good fortune of Father Juan de Torres and Father Gabriel Sanchez to instruct this people, for they were the first preachers of Jesus Christ in Bohol. They entered the island with much confidence and consolation, on learning that its people, like those in the neighboring island of Sebu, did not practice polygamy—an affliction which to the fathers in Ibabao and Leite was a source of great sorrow, since they found in this evil custom a serious impediment to the conversion of many who were not otherwise hindered from receiving holy baptism. Not only were the Boholans free from this, but none of their immoral practices (for they had others) could hinder their conversion; for all at once they abandoned all of these, together with their idolatry. Those fathers wrote to us concerning two in particular, of which—although they are not peculiar to the people of that island, but are general among all the others—I desire to give an account for the better understanding and greater clearness of this narrative; one relates to their dead, and their mode of shrouding and burying them; the other, to their feasts, festivals, and drunken revels. I shall speak of the general practices in both, beginning with the first.
The manner which the Filipinas had of shrouding and burying their dead. Chapter XXXIII.
The first and last concern of the Filipinos in cases of sickness was, as we have stated, to offer some sacrifice to their anitos, or divatas, which were their gods. These sacrifices were offered, as we have said, with dancing to the sound of a bell; and it would happen, as I have sometimes heard, that in the most furious part of the dance and the bell-ringing, when the catolona or bailana was exerting most force, all at once she stopped at the death of the sick person. After the death there followed new music, the dirges and lamentations, which were also sung, accompanied by weeping, not only by the mourners but by others—the former on account of their sorrow and grief; the latter for their wages and profit, for they were hired for this purpose, as is and has been the custom among other nations of greater reputation. To the sound of this sad music they washed the body of the dead person, perfuming it with the gum of the storax-tree and other aromatics which they are wont to use, and clothing it in the best garments which the dead man possessed; then, after having kept and mourned over it for three days, they buried it. Others anointed the body with aromatic balsams which prevent corruption, especially with the juice of a sort of ivy which grows there abundantly, and is truly a very valuable drug, which they call buyo. [92] It is very pungent, and for the living is a notable stimulant, also strengthening the teeth, hardening the gums, and sweetening the breath. Consequently both Spaniards and Indians make much use of it, and always carry it in their mouth, as they use the coca in Piru. With the juice of this plant, then, they anointed the dead body, and so injected it through the mouth that it penetrated the whole body. Thus prepared, many bodies have been found uncorrupted after a lapse of many years; but they did not place the corpses in the earth, but in their dwellings, enclosed in coffins of the hardest wood, incorruptible, and with the cover so fitted that it was impossible for the air to enter. Moreover, they placed gold in the mouths of the corpses, and laid with them many articles of value; and thus they buried them, under the house, richly adorned, and with the corpse another chest, containing garments. Besides this, they usually were careful to carry to the burial various viands, which they left there for the dead person. In former times, they would not let them depart to the other world alone, but gave male and female slaves to accompany the dead. These slaves, having first eaten a hearty meal, were then immediately killed, that they might go with the dead man. It once happened that they buried with a chief a vessel manned by many rowers, who were to serve him in his voyages in the other world. The usual place of burial was the dead man's own house, at least in the lower part—where a great pit was dug, in which the coffin was placed. A small railing was constructed about the pit, and, leaving it open, they placed inside the food which they brought. Others buried their bodies in the open field, and for several days burned fires beneath their houses and set guards, so that the dead man might not return and carry away with him those whom he had left.
After the burial the mourning ceased, but not the feasting and intoxication, which lasted more or less time according to the rank of the deceased. The widow or widower, and the orphans and other relatives who felt most keenly their grief, expressed their sorrow by fasting, abstaining from meat, fish, and other viands—eating during this period only vegetables, and those in very small quantities. Among the Tagalos the color for mourning is black, and among the Bissayans white. The latter also tear out their hair and eyebrows, which makes them ugly indeed. Upon the death of a chief, silence must be observed in the village during the period of mourning, until the interdict was raised—a longer or shorter time, according to his rank; and during that time no sound of a blow or other noise might be heard in any house under penalty of some misfortune. In order to secure this quiet, the villages on the coast placed a sign on the banks of the river, giving notice that no one might travel on that stream, or enter or leave it, under penalty of death—which they forcibly inflicted, with the utmost cruelty, upon whomsoever should break this silence. Those who died in war were extolled in their dirges, and in the obsequies which were celebrated the sacrifices made to or for them lasted for a long time, accompanied by much feasting and intoxication. If the deceased had met death by violence, whether in war or in peace, by treachery, or in some other way, the mourning habits were not removed, or the interdict lifted, until the sons, brothers, or relatives had killed many others—not only of the enemies and murderers, but also other persons, strangers, whoever they might be, who were not their friends. As robbers and pirates, they scoured the land and sea, going to hunt man and killing all whom they could, until they had satiated their fury. When this was done, they made a great feast for invited guests, raised the interdict, and, in due time, abandoned their mourning.
In all these practices may be clearly seen traces of the paganism and of those ancient rites and usages so magnified and recorded by noted writers, by which many other nations more civilized—and, perchance, some more barbarous than this one—made themselves famous and deserving of mention. Certainly balsams, and the perfumes, not only of ointments and fragrant spices, but of herbs and odoriferous flowers, are all known to have been in most ancient use among the Greeks and Romans, and in the Hebrew commonwealth—derived, perhaps, from intercourse with pagan peoples, as we read of it in the grave and burial of King Asa. [93] The bathing of the dead and of those who touched them is also found in Holy Writ; and in accounts of the commonwealths of the Egyptians and Persians, and is practiced at the present day, among many nations; also the custom of placing food in their sepulchres, which is rebuked by St. Augustine. [94]
Who does not know that the men and women hired as mourners are the mourners and singers whom the sacred authors so repeatedly mention? and that, even before the commonwealth of the Hebrews was established by God our Lord, the holy Job called upon those who were ready to fulfil this office and to raise their voices in wailing and lamentation for anyone who would hire them, to lament the day of his birth as if it had been the day of his death? [95] This practice extended later to an infinite number of nations, especially to the Canaanites, who formed their troop of singers and musicians, and, with much skill and effect, mourned the deceased, as they did at Sifara—the mother beginning to intone a chant, which was then taken up by those most learned and skilled in that office." [96]